Having played football since he was three, it is fair enough to say that Ainslie premiership coach Chris Rourke has footy in his blood.
He has been the coach of the Ainslie Football Club for five years, and said that the game has been is his life since the start.
"As a kid, it was something in my life I loved, and I just have a great love for the game and it’s something I’ve never grown out of."
The first club he played for was Surry Hills in the Eastern districts of Melbourne.
The next move for the talented player was to Fitzroy Football Club also in Victoria, where he stayed for a while having some minor success.
Rourke played most of his football in the old Victorian Football Association, VFA, which is now known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) for club sides such as Camberwell and Oakley.
By Rourke’s own admission most of his best footy was over by the time he was 33, however, that did not stop him playing whenever he could.
His first role as a coach came when he was 32 at the Echuca Football Club. Rourke was given the job of captain/coach and has been coaching ever since.
He eventually retired as a player at the age of 45, although he admitted that he still has a run around as often as he can.
Coaching Ainslie Football Club full-time is the biggest job he has ever had and he got it from the experience he gained in Sydney.
He became involved with the Sydney Swans and then moved to take a head coach role at Northshore, it was when he was at this club that Ainslie came calling.
Rourke admits that when he first came to Ainslie the club was having a tough time of it, but they have slowly worked through it and are now reaping the rewards.
Now, he says his family of six is very comfortable in Canberra and he is quite happy here. Although he did jokingly mention that "a coach is only as good as his last season."
The way Chris Rourke talks about the club it sounds like he would find it very difficult to leave, although the urge to play again might overwhelm him.
"If you could give me a million dollars or give me a chance to play footy again I’d choose to play again, I just love it."
Pic by Ben Southall Photography
Reprinted from the AFL Canberra Record Rd 7
Last Modified on 19/05/2011 22:36